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Maine Tinker Photography is a photography studio based in Maine specializing in family, wedding and lifestyle photography.

K’s Second Birthday Shoot : Freeport Maine Family Photographer

I can’t believe this sweetie is 2! Kessler is the youngest boy of his family, but his mother wanted to focus just on him for his 2 year old birthday photos. It was so fun getting to know him and have special one on one time with him. He taught me all a 2 year old boy needs and wants during a photo shoot was a ladder to climb on so we could get his personality in the photos. Thanks for spending the morning with me in the the SHEd Studio 🙂

Love & Joy

Siobhan

 

 

Here are some fun things to do with the special 2 year old in your life.

1. DRESS-UP TIME

Materials needed: Old clothes, costumes

What to do: Haul out a pile of old clothes and let your child play dress-up. “You can play with them but it is great to encourage group play with two or three other children their age,” Dr. Myers suggests.

Skills learned: Creativity, imagination, language skills, and social development

2. A LITTLE CONVERSATION

Materials needed: Doll or plush toy

What to do: Hand over the doll or toy, and encourage your child to hold, talk, dress, and take care of it. “Talk to the doll the way you would talk a child, and encourage your child to do the same,” Dr. Myers says.

Skills learned: Social, language and fine motor skills, creativity and imagination

3. TOY HIDE-AND-SEEK

Materials needed: Toy

What to do: Hide a toy somewhere in the house, and ask your child to find it. Explore with her, using cues like “warmer” and “colder” to guide her.

Variations: Use flashlights for the search, or hide several objects at one time.

Skills learned: Listening, problem solving, social skills, and memory

4. SIMON SAYS

What to do: Start out with simple directions—”Simon says, touch your toes”—then graduate to silly, more complex routines (“Simon says, tug on your left ear, then your right ear”). And don’t forget to drop “Simon says” every now and then!

Variations: You can also encourage your child to jump, skip, catch something, and more.

Skills learned: Gross motor skills, following directions and receptive language

5. YOU’VE GOT MAIL

Materials needed: Old shoe box, junk mail

What to do: Make a mailbox by decorating an old shoe box or cardboard box and cutting a slit in the top. Fill it with your junk mail for your child to open. “Not only does this develop fine motor skills as she opens the envelopes and takes out what’s inside, you can use it to teach your child basic concepts,” Dr. Leiderman says. “Talk about the pictures, colors, and letters; help her sort it by size, shape or color; or count the pieces. You can also layer in imaginative play by playing post office, or playing store with the coupons.”

Skills learned: Develops an understanding of basic concepts, fine motor skills

6. ALL ABOARD

Materials needed: Towel or blanket

What to do: Have your toddler sit on a towel or blanket and gently pull her around the room. Pretend the blanket is a train or a boat and that you are stopping at different places, like the zoo or wherever your imaginations take you.

Skills learned: Balance, pretending

7. BODY TRACING

Materials needed: Large piece of paper, crayons

What to do: Have your child lie down on a large piece of paper and trace the outline of his body. “Because the child has to lay still to be traced, he learns self-control,” Dr. Leiderman says. “You can show him where the two eyes, nose, and mouth go, but if your child just wants to color all over it, that’s fine. Don’t impose anything on him, just let him have fun with it.”

Variation: If your child doesn’t want to lie still, don’t force him. Start with tracing just his hand or foot, or tracing your hand and foot.

Skills learned: Sense of self, self-control, and identifying body parts/language skills

8. STOP! GO!

What to do: Play games that involve starting and stopping, such as “Red light, green light.” Developing self-control will eventually help children negotiate, compromise, and work out conflicts without losing their temper, Dr. Leiderman says.

Skills learned: Self-control

9. EXPRESS YOURSELF

Materials needed: Facial features cut out of magazines, paper, glue stick

What to do: Cut out different noses, eyes, hair, and other features from old magazines, and give them to your child to glue on to a blank paper circle. Encourage her to make funny creatures or silly faces. “Talk to your child about the pieces and how to glue them down, but don’t be too directive with it,” Dr. Leiderman says. “Ask a lot of ‘wonder questions,’ like “I wonder what would happen if you put the pieces down without the glue?’ and ‘I wonder why the glue is getting all over the table?’ Childhood is about learning new facts and applying them to theories, so help them make theories.”

Variations: Let her rip up the pieces or color on the collage with crayons after the glue has dried.

Skills learned: Creativity, language

10. BALL PASS

Materials needed: Play tunnel, soft ball

What to do: With you and your child at opposite ends of the tunnel, take turns lifting each end to roll a soft ball back and forth. “This can take some trial and error for your kiddo to get the hang of, but it’s great motor planning practice and takes teamwork,” says Rachel Coley, an occupational therapist, author of Simple Play: Easy Fun For Babies, and founder of CanDoKiddo.com.

Skills learned: Motor planning, understanding cause and effect, teamwork

11. DRAW YOUR FAVORITE SONGS

Materials needed: Paper, crayons

What to do: As you sing one of your child’s favorite songs, draw a simple picture of what is happening in the lyrics, then hand your child the paper to draw something else mentioned in the song. For example, Coley would sing “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” to her son, first drawing the spider and then having him draw his version of the rain. Go back and forth until the song ends.

Skills learned: Language skills, creativity, storytelling

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207- 400- 0603TELEPHONEthemainetinker@gmail.comemail • contact us



themainetinker@gmail.com
Maine, USA